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Padres head to Nashville looking for pitching

Padres head to Nashville looking for pitching

11/27/12: MLB.com's Hot Stove looks at the potential for the Padres to add pitchers Daisuke Matsuzaka or Dan Haren to their rotation

By Corey Brock
/
MLB.com |

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- On Sunday afternoon, Padres general manager Josh Byrnes and his staff boarded a flight from San Diego to Nashville for baseball's annual Winter Meetings.

These Winter Meetings, held at the Opryland Hotel, will begin in earnest on Monday and will conclude with the Rule 5 Draft on Thursday, giving the Padres -- and everyone else -- ample time to conduct face to face meetings with agents and other teams.

The Padres, to be sure, have some work to do.

Byrnes, who had a frenetic first offseason with the team last winter, striking a number of deals, expects things to be much quieter this time around.

"In the big picture, our offseason was probably not going to be quite as busy as it was last year," Byrnes said last week.

That doesn't mean the Padres will pass the time in Music City idly, though. The Padres need to find two starting pitchers -- either through trade (more likely) or free agency (less likely). They could do so during the week in Nashville.

Will the team go after pitchers Shaun Marcum, Dan Haren or Joe Blanton? Byrnes said recently that the team has been more active in trade talks, meaning the organization could part with some Minor League talent or some of its bullpen and corner infield inventory.

Padres.com and MLB.com will have you covered for all the latest developments -- big or small -- concerning the team.

It won't just be the Padres' baseball operations staff in Nashville. Manager Bud Black, who had his 2014 and 2015 options picked up recently, will meet with the media at 1:30 p.m. PT on Wednesday.

But will Black have a few new acquisitions to talk about by then?

Who do you, the fan, think the team should acquire? The Padres have talked pitching all offseason. Are you content with the offense, especially after a second-half surge in 2012?

Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. Keep track of @FollowThePadres on Twitter. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.